We Remain
by effiesmahoganyx
Summary: Katniss reflecting back on how her life with Peeta began, and how her life with Peeta was. Old Everlark, the feels hit you right in the gut.


Being married to someone isn't easy, even if you've married your best friend and the love of your life. You're going to have bumps along the way, but you need to hit these bumps head on and solve them together. Yes you will argue and if you don't, then you obviously don't love each other. You're going to go through things that will almost break you apart but you need to stick together and fight your battles as one person. Because when that person fights with you, you know its forever, and you know you should never let them go.

60 years of marriage. Now that's a commitment, an achievement almost. It's astonishing how I, Katniss Everdeen now Katniss Mellark, can even stand being around someone for the time of sixty years, let alone being completely head over heels in love with someone for that long. Yes, I'm madly in love with my husband, Peeta Mellark. When Peeta arrived back from the Capitol I was shocked mostly, I never thought he'd come back. I guess I just assumed that he would stay in the Capitol because there was nothing here for him in District Twelve. He had no family; they were blown sky high when the Capitol wiped out District Twelve with firebombs in attempt to stop the rebellion.

But anyway, when he came back from the Capitol we started afresh. It all started when he planted those evening Primroses in my garden in remembrance of my sister, Prim. He sparked a little hope inside of my chest, seeing him pushed me to try and get into my normal routine. Just seeing him back in the District did this. God knows what would've happened if had walked down the stairs to see him sitting at the dining room table waiting for me with a plate of pancakes and blueberries.

As soon as I had spoken to him I realised that I needed to get myself together and get my life together, so I ran up the stairs as fast as I could, tripping on the first step as I went. Of course I fell, I wasn't going to go one day without having one bit of bad luck was I? But when I got rid of the horrible stench of those flowers from Snow I knew I'd get better. It must've been that horrid smell that caused me to have nightmares every two hours, because as soon as I got rid of them, the number of flashbacks I had reduced. But that might have had something to do with seeing Peeta.

I took my first shower since I got back from the Capitol and then I burnt the clothes that I refused to change out of. There was no way in hell that I was going to be able to wash them and make them smell the way they should smell and not the way they did smell. Why I never showered I'll never know. I was depressed because I had this big house and no one to share it with anymore as I used to share it with my mother and sister. But, I should've been showing them that I was stronger than I was and even though that they were gone I was coping, and I wasn't weak. I should've stayed strong for them, which is what Prim would've wanted to see me doing. But I failed. I failed myself, and I failed my sister.

But after that day, things started to get better for me. Buttercup came back and even though I had a fit at him and basically told him to get out, he stayed. He kept me company on the nights that I needed company the most. His soft purrs helped me drift into sleep and somehow they calmed me too. We both loved Prim, even though he was a cat, he loved her just as much as I did and he was heartbroken that she never came back. He was my only part left of Prim, and he still is now to this day.

I started doing the family book, as Peeta and I now call it. We filled it with pictures of everyone. My Dad, Prim, Finnick, Boggs and everyone else who had lost their life to Snow. And we've even added to it now. It's gone into a second book. The first book is remembrance of the dead, Finn – Annie and Finnick's son, is the only one who's alive that is in that book. Now we have a second book for our big family. Peeta and I are on the first two pages and the story of our love is on the inside of the front cover. I always loved reading that to everyone, it was truly perfect. The only person I refuse to put into this book is Gale. Since he decided to never come back to District Twelve and to stay in District Two we haven't communicated. I think he's passed away now, I'm not so sure. I can't say that I really care either.

Haymitch never had the chance to kick his habit of drinking. We all came to the conclusion that it would be bad for him to stop it completely so he carried on, but we didn't tell him that we watered it all down so it wasn't at all as strong as it used to be. I don't know how he could drink bottle after bottle of liquor all day until he passed out. The smell gets my stomach queasy let alone the taste. But he managed to keep his geese until Christmas came around. We killed them all for our meat, he didn't really mind because they were getting on his last nerve. But we spent Christmas with all the people that returned and it was wonderful. We all had so much fun. Our first Christmas all together in District Twelve.

Peeta and I, now there's a story that I could tell for years. We finally grew back together; we fell back in love with each other. He still had his flashbacks but it was nothing that we both couldn't handle. He just held onto the back of the chair until it was over, but as our relationship grew, as soon as I seen that clouded grey/black look take over his eyes and his knuckles turning white from holding onto the chair so hard. I would walk up behind him and wrap my arms around his waist, whispering 'It's not real,' into his ear over and over until he finally relaxed his body. Sometimes I would press a soft kiss to his neck if the flashback was really bad and he was spitting out awful words.

My nightmares. As soon as Peeta was back they simmered down to only a few a week. That's the least I had them since I came back from the Capitol- it was an achievement. Peeta would be there to wrap his arms around my body and pull me into his lap and whisper 'It's not real,' into my ear over and over until the memory of the flashback had disappeared from my mind. It started off like this but one night it was bad. It got so bad I was lashing about and I was apparently screaming 'kill me, just do it.' But I'll never know so I just live off what Peeta told me. His arms were there to comfort me but they weren't enough, so he kissed me. His lips comforted me and it made me forget about everything that had just happened in the nightmare. It also made me realise that this was real, what we had was real, and our love story was truly real.

When we had got used to each other's presence around the house and the small sweet kisses before he went to work a shift at the bakery, and the lingering kiss and hug as soon as he came through the door coming back from working. That's when I knew it, that's when I really knew I loved him.

But it wasn't until that night that we held each other as we slept, and I woke screaming from a nightmare of Prim when he held me in his arms until I stopped crying. I never usually open up to him about my nightmares; I usually keep them a secret and let the memory fade. But this time, this time it was different, I opened up to him. I told him about how Prim had been in front of me, just in my grasp, as my fingers grazed her white District Thirteen uniform, then she flew away, her body turning into ashes and disintegrating into the musty air.

And that night was the first time I decided to act upon my feelings towards him. I kissed him on his mouth, and this kiss wasn't like the small kisses we shared before he set off for work or when he came home, prancing through the door with the biggest smile on his face that I've ever seen. I felt that thing, that hunger I felt on the beach in the Quarter Quell. I think he felt it too because that's the night we first touched each other. I ran my hands up his chest, feeling the solid muscles and scars from working at the bakery and from the games, and of course the Capitol. And it was the night we made love for the first time. What a memorable night that was for both me, and him. He was so gentle, afraid he'd hurt me. It made my heart ache; the way he was with me was perfect. Any girl could only dream of having a man like Peeta in their lives, and that makes me look back on our 60 years of marriage and makes me love all of those years. The good times and the bad.

That night was also the first night I told him I loved him, well, sort of told him. We finished making love and we lay together for hours, talking about everything, talking about Prim, talking about his father and his brothers. He let me deeper into his life, just as I did with mine.

"You love me. Real or not real? He asked.

"Real," I answered.

And after that moment that that word left my mouth our lives changed. I could love him back, I could feel the same way towards him that he feels about me and has since he was five. We were teenagers in love, and it was perfect.

After a year of us being together properly, Peeta proposed to me and I, of course, said yes. We didn't wait long after we got engaged to get married. We didn't see the point in waiting so we did it exactly a year later. We of course had Effie's input on pretty much everything to do with the wedding. We didn't want to have a big wedding like they do in the Capitol and she took that into mind while she went through everything. Anyone would have thought that it was Effie's wedding and not ours.

We kept it a District Twelve tradition and we had a toasting. We insisted upon having this as private as possible, we wanted to share our love with each other and not hundreds of people. It was just Peeta, I, Effie, Haymitch and my mother who attended our small toasting, but afterwards Effie put this whole reception together where they married us 'The Capitol Way'. It was interesting to say the least, seeing the way people in the Capitol celebrate things.

Even though we had a small toasting and a relatively small reception (I persuaded Effie to only invite people we knew and liked, she wasn't too happy about it, but it was a day for Peeta and I, not her) Effie made me wear a wedding dress. The dress I finally decided upon was nothing like the dresses the Capitol had sent me to try on for mine and Peeta's fake wedding, it was gorgeous and it was me.

It was a Princess Scoop neckline which was a floral lace which travelled down into three-quarter sleeves. I chose the floral pattern as a reminder of Prim, I wanted to include her as much as I could in the wedding because she loved it when I tried on all those wedding dresses that the Capitol sent me. Even though she couldn't be there in the flesh, she was a part of my dress and she was incorporated in my flower arrangements too. Evening Primroses.

The top of the dress was all lace and tightly fitted until it came to my waist; it flared out slightly but not dramatically. It flowed out elegantly and left a thirty centimetre train at the bottom of the back. The back of the dress itself was a piece of art. It was fully lace, yet again, and had silk covered buttons that buttoned up from the bottom of my back to the middle of my shoulder blades. I wanted a high neckline to cover the awful scars I have across my body. The dress covered most of my scars but left a few on the bottom of my arms showing, but it didn't matter. Peeta told me he loved every inch of me, including my scars, so I included my scars in the showing of my dress. The dress was beautiful and I felt beautiful wearing it, which is hard for me to say.

They kept my makeup minimal but covering the scars on my face. I looked like Katniss but with a twist- Katniss who made an effort and looked beautiful.

They wanted me to have my hair in its usual braid but I wear that every day and I wanted to look different and look as if I made an effort on my wedding day, so I had my hair down in its natural waves with a waterfall braid along the back. I once heard Peeta say he likes it when my hair's down, so I granted him a wish and I wore it down.

His face when I arrived at our special place in the meadow was priceless. His eyes glossed up and he let a few stray tears trickle down his cheeks. When I reached him I wiped away his tears with my thumbs and I pressed a small kiss to his lips. I'll never forget what he whispered to me when I pulled back from that kiss. 'You look so beautiful, even more beautiful than I imagined. I'm so lucky. I love you'. Those words have stayed with me these past sixty years, and I think about his words every day.

Our wedding was perfect, it felt as if it was just the two of us in our own little world, it was perfect, more than anything I could ever of imagined. It made me realise how much I need Peeta and how lucky I am to have someone like him.

Our first dance was the same music as my mother and fathers. Except when they got married, they had me and my father sing it while he was dancing; it was more intimate that way. But if my father was alive, I'm sure he would've taken the spot light and sung the song with all of his heart. We swayed in each other's arms to the beautiful recording of Charlene Soraia, Wherever You Will Go. It was perfect.

'If a great wave shall wall,

It shall fall upon us all.

Well I hope there's someone out there who,

Can bring me back to you.

If I could,

Then I would,

I'd go wherever you will go.

Way up high,

Or down low,

I'd go wherever you will go.' I whispered the lyrics into his ear as we gently swayed to the beautiful sound of her voice. He was my whole world, and he was the only thing that mattered in those few minutes.

The night of our wedding was very… interesting. Peeta carried me through the threshold of our house and through the threshold of our bedroom before depositing me on the bed and well, we all know what happened next. We made love throughout the night, and we didn't wake up until two o'clock the next afternoon. We were very… busy.

It took Peeta ten years to persuade me to have children. I wanted to keep him all to myself and I didn't want anyone to come in-between us. We were finally together and it was the most beautiful thing I could ever have imagined. But he persuaded me.

We weren't even trying for a child when I found out I was pregnant. I was so scared; I would have this little thing growing inside me which I knew nothing about. The pregnancy was scary and I relied mostly on Peeta to help me get through it.

He ordered all the pregnancy books he could get his hands on, and he even made a special trip the Capitol just to get this one book. But it was all worth it. Our baby came and it was healthy and everything I could've asked for. We had a little girl, and the birth process was horrific, it hurt so much, but I would go through that a thousand times if it meant that I'd end up with a little girl as perfect as ours.

We named her Willow, just like the Willow tree in 'The Valley Song'. A song my father taught me and sang to be all throughout my childhood, which is exactly what I done with Willow.

When Willow turned four I found out I was pregnant again. The second time around, the pregnancy was so much better because I knew what to expect. The birthing process still hurt like a bitch, but it was more bearable, and when I held my little Rye in my arms for the first time I forgot about all of the pain. The only thing that mattered in that moment was that he was healthy and alive and perfect- which he was.

Willow followed me with her long curly brown locks but she followed her father for her piercing blue eyes. She is the perfect combination of the both of us, just like Rye. Rye has beautiful curly blonde locks that gather on top of his head and he has my grey seam eyes. They are both half of each of us.

As they grew older they became more independent and before we knew it they were in their teenage years. That's when the attitude started. Willow brought home her first boyfriend and Rye brought home his first girlfriend. They grew up really close to Annie and Finnick's son, Finn. Annie couldn't cope with looking after a son by herself, so she moved to District Twelve.

Our children all grew up so close together you'd think they were siblings. They liked all the same things and they would constantly try to out-do each other. It was wonderful to watch. I think Annie found some pleasure in watching her Finn grow up alongside other children too. She was so closed off, and her moving back to twelve really helped opening her up slightly. Even if Finn was almost ten years older than them. He was like a big brother to Willow, always looking out for her and protecting her from all evil.

When Willow turned eighteen and Rye turned fourteen my mother passed away- she was in really bad health. She was without dad, and without Prim and I think she was ready to be reconnected with them both. Even though my mother and I weren't close when I was growing up, it really hurt me when she left. I felt as if I had no-one left who loved Prim as much as I did. But Peeta helped me get through her passing and it made me stronger as a person.

Willow and Rye didn't take it too lightly though. They were so upset and it hurt me knowing I couldn't do anything to prevent their pain or to take any of it away. Peeta reassured me that I should just give them time and they will come and talk to me when they're ready- so that's what I did.

A few months after the passing of my mother, Haymitch passed away. None of us took this lightly. The children grew up with him and they made him 'better' sort of. When he was around them he'd always have the biggest smile on his face and he's radiate joy throughout the house. They loved him as an uncle. An uncle they never had.

It wasn't just hard on the children though, it was hard on, both, Peeta and I. Haymitch was there from the beginning of us. He saved my life and he was the closest person to a father figure to me since my father died. I could never repay him for everything he did to me. To this day I still visit his grave once a week with fresh flowers. I whisper a little something, some reassuring words and then I leave, finding Peeta and wrapping my arm gently with his as we wobble home together.

When Willow turned twenty two she found the love of her life – Oliver. They got married when they were both twenty six and tried so many times for a baby. Willow found out she was unable to conceive, she cried to me for weeks upon weeks. It was heart-breaking for her and for me, I couldn't bear seeing my baby girl upset over something I never wanted as a child but she wanted so badly. I told her she could adopt and that's what she did. She now has three beautiful adopted children, with beautiful blonde hair and green eyes- the three of them.

The children she adopted were triplets and they were new-born. Their mother abandoned them as soon as she gave birth. The back story was heart-breaking and saddening, but she saved them and I couldn't be more proud of her. She named them, Poppy, Rosie and Aster. She was flicking through the pages of my mother's plant book and she picked out the most beautiful names. They all truly live up to their beautiful names, they're beautiful.

Rye decided to go onto further school and become a medic, just like his Aunt was going to do. I couldn't be more proud of him, that day that he graduated from medic school was one of the proudest days of my life. He's made Peeta and me so proud and so lucky to have two beautiful, smart and talented children.

The rest of our lives, leading up until now have been filled with never ending love. We crossed paths I never thought we'd cross. We spoke to people we never thought we'd speak to. We achieved things that were considered impossible. We found love within each other and that is the greatest gift of all.

I lay beside my husband in the hospital bed, our hands entwined with each other's. We say our final goodbyes to the other.

"My darling, darling, Katniss. Thank you for this beautiful life you have granted me and shared with me. I could go on about everything that I'm thankful for but that would take me forever and we don't have that long. Maybe we will when we're finally in peace and out of pain together in another world where everyone is safe and no-one can hurt us. Maybe when we're in that world with your Prim, and your father, my father and my two brothers. Maybe then I will tell you how much I am thankful for, but for now I must say, thank you for loving me. I will love you forever, always. I love you my darling, Katniss," he says, grasping my hand as he gasps for air to fill his lungs.

I lift our entwined hands up to my face shakily and I press my lips against the skin of his hand. "I love you my dearest, Peeta. Thank you for making me see life from another pair of eyes, you really opened up my heart and let yourself in. I'm not good with words still, even though we've been married sixty years to this day exactly, that's something you never taught me. But I will say those words that you taught me to be real and to actually mean something- I love you, Peeta Mellark. And I will love you for all eternity."

I look at him for the last time and press my lips gently against his. We whisper 'I love you' to each other for the last time and that's when everything goes silent. The beeping of the machines has stopped and the light as stopped seeking through my eyes. I am finally in peace; I am finally with my Prim and father. I am finally, truly, happy.

Mum and Dad. What perfect parents I had. These past fifty years of my life have been the best I could've ever asked for and that is because of you mum and dad. You fought for what you believed in and you stopped the games for good. You sacrificed your lives so other people wouldn't have to go through the things the both of you went through together. I cannot thank you enough for the life you've given me, you welcomed me into this world with hope and love and that's how you left, with little hope and a lot of love. You've inspired millions and you will forever be missed. I won't ever get to kiss my daddy goodbye or hug my mother while she cries but at least I know they went together and without any pain. When I married the love of my life, Oliver, I refused to change my last name from Mellark. That is because when my parents were gone I wanted to keep hold of something I will have with me forever. And I want to make the Mellark name proud and keep it for the rest of my life. That's why my children and grandchildren also have the last name Mellark. The original Mellarks might not be here, but the name will go on forever, just like the remembrance of them. I hope you're keeping each other safe up there. Daddy, look after mum will you. I love you forever, rest in peace always. - Willow Mellark, 50 years of age.

Katniss and Peeta Mellark, Victors of the 74th Hunger Games, and Tributes in the 75th Quarter Quell. The leaders of the rebellion and the reason we can now be free and not send our children off into the Capitol to fight to the death. They shall be remembered every day and they will sure go down in history. To the star-crossed lovers who showed us that the power of love can make you do anything. My Aunt and Uncle, who made this world a better place I am forever in your debt, even though I never met my father, I know he died to make this world a better place and that's exactly what you've done for us. And if Uncle Haymitch was alive he would say, 'Stay Alive, Sweetheart.' And that's what Katniss will always do. She will always stay alive in the hearts of many of us. And Peeta, he will always stay by Katniss' side, no matter what her decision is. They will both be remembered and forever in our hearts, rest in peace forever. – Finn Odair, 63 years of age.

My grandmother and grandfather were the most wonderful people that have ever step foot on this earth. They're caring, loving, smart, inspiring and perfect. Their love is what got them to where they are today and we should all appreciate it. They've shown us all that as long as we have love, we can survive through the toughest times. And they always told me, 'Poppy, young, Poppy. Don't you ever face this world alone; you'll always have someone, who loves you, even if it isn't the man of your dreams? You still have your family, and family is everything. We love you little, Poppy.' They taught me all I have to know today. I cannot thank my grandparents any more than I already have. They will always be remembered in our hearts, forever and always. Rest in peace my angels. I love you forever. –Poppy Mellark 24 years of age.

Katniss and Peeta Mellark, loved by many, forever in the hearts of everyone.


End file.
